Lady In Disguise
by Eleanestelle
Summary: Fayne is more than just a girl living in the woods. She has a secret, one so dark that it could destroy the world.
1. The Girl With The Knives

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin. It belongs to the BBC.**

King Arthur and his Knights rode through the woods together in the dappled evening sunlight, laughing as they went. It was a beautiful summer's day, the kind that made Arthur's manservant Merlin smile to himself.

'What are you grinning about, Merlin?' the King asked him, frowning.

'Oh, nothing,' Merlin's smile widened. 'Just the weather. It's so nice to see the sun for once!'

Arthur laughed. 'You truly are strange,' he sighed. 'But, yes, the weather's great. In fact, I think we'll stop for a rest. It's getting hot.'

Percival, Leon, Gwaine and Elyan agreed wholeheartedly and reined their horses in before dismounting. The six young men settled themselves down on the forest floor and ate and drank whilst poking fun at each other. Arthur sat back against a tree and closed his eyes, letting what sunlight the canopy allowed through to shine on his fair skin, creating a halo around his golden hair. It was days like this that he loved, where he was able to be a carefree Prince again, without a care in the world. He knew he would have to return to Camelot soon, and to Gwen. Gwen was the reason he breathed, and the idea of seeing her again filled him with a happiness that he couldn't describe, not even to Merlin, simply because he didn't know how to put it into words. Gwen made him happy, happier than he'd ever been in his entire life, and now she was his Queen.

'Arthur,' Merlin shook away the King's daydream. 'Arthur, we can hear footsteps.'

Arthur was on his feet in an instant, his ears straining. Merlin was right, there were footsteps approaching their resting spot from his left side. He drew his sword silently, motioning for the Knights to follow suit. They did, placing themselves at equal distances from each other. They waited, barely daring to breathe. The footsteps stopped just shy of the clearing the men stood in, though the trees concealed the owner. Then, they began again, but they were heading away from the clearing, back the way they had come. As softly as they had come, they were gone again, whoever they were.

Arthur sighed in relief and sheathed his sword again, relaxing. He blew his hair out of his eyes before smiling.

'Well,' he said. 'I'm glad we didn't get into a fi- ARGH!'

The air was expelled from Arthur's body as a large weight dropped onto him from the trees above. He crashed to the ground with the mass still on him, and was horrified to discover that the mass had arms and legs. These it put to good use, using its knees to pin Arthur's arms to the ground whilst holding a knife to his throat.

'Well, what have we got here?' A male voice hissed in Arthur's ear. 'The King of Camelot and his men, caught off guard?'

'Who are you?' Arthur gasped, for the man was sitting on his chest. 'Get off me!'

'Who I am is not important,' the man said. 'As for releasing you, that is out of the question. Don't bother turning to your friends for assistance, they're in the same boat as you.'

Arthur heard the ragged breathing of his comrades, and knew the man's words to be true.

'What do you want?' He said.

The man laughed. 'Revenge,' he breathed. 'Your father left people like me in a stick situation, Your Highness,' the knife pressed against his throat, cutting the skin. 'so now, you're going to have to pay for it, given that he's dead and all that.'

The man raised the knife, and Arthur closed his eyes, but the slash never came. Bewildered, Arthur opened his eyes to find the man gazing down at him, his eyes seeing nothing. His body slumped forward and Arthur rolled out from underneath it just in time to see the knife embedded in the back of his head. His eyes followed the path it had taken to the hand of a cloaked figure stood at the clearing entrance. The rogue straddling Merlin spotted the figure at the same time as Arthur. He rose, keeping his knife trained on Merlin.

'You shouldn't have come here, Hunter,' he said, his voice wary.

A soft laugh. 'It's a good thing I did, really,' to Arthur's surprise, the voice belonged to a female. 'Otherwise these men would be very much dead.'

'And they will be,' the man replied. 'When we're through with them.'

'You will not touch them, Hawk,' the woman replied. 'They're mine.'

This took the man called Hawk by surprise. 'I hope you have a good reason for this,' he said savagely. 'Or I'll kill them anyway.'

'I do,' the woman's voice was harsh. 'My reasons are none of your concern. Go, before you go the same way as Vine over there, I don't have enough knives on me to take all of you.'

Hawk sighed and signalled to the other four men sat on Elyan, Percival, Leon and Gwaine. 'Come on,' he snapped. 'You know Hunter, once she has a claim on something, they're untouchable.'

The four men groaned, clearly disappointed that they wouldn't be getting a fresh kill tonight and rose, throwing the cloaked woman filthy looks as they left, which she ignored. When they had gone, the four Knights clumped together. Arthur, blinded by curiosity, approached the woman.

'My Lord,' Percival laid his hand on Arthur's shoulder, a strange look on his face. 'Wait. Let me.'

Arthur nodded and let Percival pass. The young man approached the figure slowly, his hand gripping his sword tightly. When he drew level with her, he raised his sword to the top of her head, snagging the edge of her hood with it and pushing it from her head, revealing her face. Percival visibly sighed.

'Fayne,' he said, so quiet that Arthur barely heard him. 'I thought it might be you.'

To Arthur's astonishment, the girl called Fayne was a lot younger than she sounded. She appeared to be around eighteen years old, but was tall and slim for her age. Her long brown hair was pulled back from her face in a braid that wound it's way over her shoulder and reached her waist. She wore a black shirt and breeches beneath the cloak, with more knives sheathed at her belt. However, it was her eyes that grabbed the attention of Arthur and the Knights. The were a deep ocean blue, and stared at Percival with an intensity that shocked him.

'How did you know it was me?' she asked him dryly. He laughed.

'Who else can throw a knife like that?' he said exasperatedly. 'They call you Hunter for a reason.'

Fayne smiled and threw her arms around Percival, who responded by picking her up and swinging her around before setting her down again. 'It's good to see you, Fayne,' he said sincerely. 'You have no idea how worried I've been.'

Arthur cleared his throat and the two looked up at him. 'I hate to break up this obvious reunion, but I'm confused,' he turned to Fayne. 'Who are you?'

'My name is Fayne,' she replied. 'People know me as Hunter. Percival is my brother.'

Arthur's eyebrows shot under his hair. 'Really?' he said. 'Well, Fayne, we owe you our lives. Thank you for what you did.'

Fane inclined her head. 'It was nothing, Your Highness,' she said. 'you owe me nothing.'

'Who were those people?' Merlin was rubbing his sore ribs. 'And why did they call you Hunter?'

'They're bandits,' Fayne said, crossing the clearing to the man she called Vine's body. 'You don't want to arrest those ones, though. They can be really nasty if you get on the wrong side of them. Best just to leave them be.' She knelt beside the dead man. 'It's dangerous to use your own name out here, it can get you in all sorts of trouble. I didn't choose Hunter, Vine did.' She gave the body a filthy look as she yanked her knife from his skull and cleaned it with her cloak.

'I think it's because she's fast,' Percival muttered to Merlin. 'Nobody can catch her and she's lethal with those knives.'

'Wrong,' Fayne stood up and faced them. Percival realised how tired she looked. 'It's because I've lived in the woods since Cenred attacked us. I'm a Hunter. And now that I've saved your lives and got my knife back, I'll be going now.'

Percival caught her arm as she passed him and turned her to face him. 'Oh no, you don't,' he said sternly. 'Do you honestly think I'm letting you go anywhere now that you're here? Oh no, you're not leaving me after I've spent years worrying about you.'

Fayne gave him a strange look. 'You were worried about me?' She asked him, as if she were surprised by this. The way in which she said it, the genuine wonder, made Percival drop the stern look and just stare at her.

'Of course I was,' he sighed. 'I always will be.' He turned to Arthur and the others, all of whom were watching this exchange in complete silence. 'Sire, may I ask that Fayne accompany us back to Camelot? I don't want to let her out of my sight.'

Arthur smiled. 'Yes, I think she should return with us,' he said slowly. Fayne opened her mouth to argue. 'You won't win this, Fayne. Don't even try it.' Fayne sighed and nodded.

'Good,' Merlin said. 'Now that that's sorted, shall we get going?'

'No,' Arthur said. 'It's almost dark, we'll stop here tonight. Could you get a fire going and start some food?' Merlin nodded. 'All right then. The rest of us, make camp.'


	2. The Forest At Night

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, it belongs to the BBC**

That night, as the men below her slept under Leon's careful watch, Fayne sat in her tree, letting her legs dangle into the air and thought the day's events over. It had been bad enough stumbling upon Vine and his cronies again; she tried to avoid them at all costs. But then to meet her brother after four years was completely surreal. Percival, one of the King's Knights! He wasn't of noble birth, so how on earth did he become a Knight? He'd changed as well. The way he stared at her unnerved her, like he was seeing her for the first time. He wasn't the carefree Percival she had grown up with, the boy who used to play hilarious tricks on her. No, the time for juvenile pranks was gone. He was a man now, a man who had killed just as she had; she saw the guilt in his eyes and knew that he could see it in hers. She hated who she had become, but there wasn't a fat lot she could do about it. Cenred had seen to that when he destroyed her home, the place where she and Percival had played as children. He had forced her, the only survivor besides her brother, to become a murderer herself.

Fayne jumped a mile when something tugged gently at her ankle. Her hands on her knives, she sat bolt upright on her branch and glared down at the culprit, only to relax when she saw that it was the King's manservant, whose name she had forgotten.

'Sorry,' he whispered sheepishly. 'I didn't mean to scare you. You can put the knife down.'

Fayne loosened her grip, but didn't let go. 'What was that for?' she hissed back. 'What's wrong?'

The young man smiled. 'Nothings wrong,' he said. 'You just look like you could use some company. Do you mind if I join you?'

Fayne nodded her consent and watched as the servant climbed up the tree. He was pretty nimble, she thought, but even he wasn't as catlike as Fayne. As he struggled with the last part of the climb, she sighed and held out her hand to help him. He gladly took it and was pulled up beside her.

'Thanks,' he panted. 'Do you always sleep in trees?'

'I wasn't sleeping,' Fayne shrugged. 'But yes, I do. Its safer than being on the ground. I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name.'

The young man laughed. 'My name's Merlin,' he said. 'I'm Arthur's manservant.'

'Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Merlin,' Fayne offered him a small smile, which he returned.

'Percival seemed happy to see you, Fayne,' Merlin said. 'I've never seen him smile like that before.'

Fayne snorted. 'He used to smile like that all the time, when we were children,' she said slowly. 'But I suppose Cenred wiped the smile off his face pretty quickly.'

'Sir Lancelot told me that he attacked the village and wiped out everyone,' Merlin said sadly. 'Did he?'

'Yes,' Fayne sighed. 'Everyone was killed. Our parents, our friends, our neighbours. Percival and I even thought the other was dead for a while, until I ran into him four years ago.'

'Before he was a Knight,' Merlin mused. 'What happened?'

'It was odd, really,' Fayne idly played with her hair. 'He thought he had gone mad and started to panic.'

'Understandable,' Merlin nodded. 'But he obviously realised that he wasn't.'

Fayne smiled to herself. 'Yes,' she said. 'I had to give a few slaps, but he came to his senses and realised that I as alive. I'd never been so happy to see him.'

'So why didn't you stay with him?' Merlin frowned.

'I have a tendency to...attract trouble,' Fayne said slowly. 'I didn't want that for him. It wasn't fair. I don't even want to be here now, but orders are orders.'

'What sort of trouble?' Merlin asked.

'A lot of people in the woods don't like me much,' Fayne explained. 'Like Vine and Hawk. I try not to stay in one place for too long; sleep in the day, move at night when there are less people about. It makes sleep patterns non existent.'

'I don't understand,' Merlin frowned. 'Why don't they like you?'

Fayne gave a small laugh. 'I'm not like them,' she said. 'I'm a young woman, alone in the woods.' She looked up at Merlin. 'They don't know why I'm here. To them, I'm a dangerous threat. And what do people do to threats?'

'Destroy them,' Merlin whispered, horrified.

'That or run from them,' Fayne nodded. 'But these aren't the running type. They don't want me here. I told you, I attract trouble.'

'Maybe it's a good thing you're coming back with us,' Merlin said quietly. 'it means we can keep an eye on you.'

Fayne sighed. 'The trouble will just come with me,' she said. 'but I don't have a choice, do I?'

'Nope,' Merlin grinned. 'You're stuck with us, so you might as well get to know everyone!'

'I suppose so,' Fayne said. 'tell me about Camelot.'

Merlin smiled. 'It's hard to describe,' he said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. 'It's big and busy, especially on market day when people come in from the nearby villages to trade. You can see the castle from miles away, and if you climb to the highest tower in the castle, you can see for miles when the air is clear, like after a rainstorm. There's always something going on; royal visits, jousting, training. There's never a dull day in Camelot.'

'It sounds nice,' Fayne replied. 'If it's never dull, I assume you'll find something for me to do.'

'Hmm,' Merlin frowned slightly. 'that depends. Do you like getting your hands dirty?'

Fayne rolled her eyes. 'I've lived in the woods for five years,' she said. 'I was born for getting my hands dirty!'

'Good,' Merlin hid his smile. 'I'm sure we'll find some use for you, there's always work to be done.'

'Thanks,' Fayne gave a small laugh. 'Are we heading back tomorrow?'

'Yeah,' Merlin answered. 'early, I think. We've done what we needed to do out here.'

'And what is that, if you don't mind my asking?' Fayne asked.

'We were patrolling the borders,' Merlin shifted his weight across the branch. 'we were just on our way home when we ran into you. We're about a day's ride from Camelot.'

Fayne stifled a yawn and stretched her arms. 'Well, I don't know why, but I'm tired all of a sudden,' she said. 'And I know you must be. We should try to get as much sleep as we can.'

Merlin nodded and hopped down from the tree quietly. 'Are you going to stay up there?' he asked.

'Yes,' Fayne said. 'don't worry about me falling out, I'm well practised. Thank you for talking to me, Merlin. I needed the company.'

'It was no trouble,' Merlin whispered back up, aware of how close he was to the Knights. 'Goodnight, Fayne.'

'Goodnight, Merlin.'


End file.
